Toy ball

ABSTRACT

A toy ball having a hollow spherical member which is enclosed by two attached hemispherical members. A plurality of pockets are located on the surface of the spherical member and cups are press-fitted into each of these pockets. A movable attention getting object is placed in each cup and the two hemispheres are sealed together over the spherical member to seal the object in each cup. When the toy ball is rolled along a surface or otherwise rotated the objects in each cut move providing an item of interest and attractiveness to children of tender ages.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Timothy J. Mcl-lugh 4 Hilltop Road,Bronxville, N.Y. 10708 [21 1 Appl. No. 13,972 [22] Filed Feb. 25, 1970I45] Patented Sept. 7, 1971 [54] TOY BALL 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

52 U.S.Cl 46/1 R [5 l Int. Cl A63h 33/00 [50] Field oiSearch... 273/53,58, 507, 1213;40/327; 46/1, 175

[5 6) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 695,153 3/1902 Hoyt 273/58R 2,792,696 5/1957 Stayart Primary Examiner-Robert PeshockAttorney-Kirschstein, Kirschstein, Ottinger & Frank ABSTRACT: A toy ballhaving a hollow spherical member which is enclosed by two attachedhemispherical members. A plurality of pockets are located on the surfaceof the spherical member and cups are press-fitted into each of thesepockets. A movable attention getting object is placed in each cup andthe two hemispheres are sealed together over the spherical member toseal the object in each cup. When the toy ball is rolled along a surfaceor otherwise rotated the objects in each cut move providing an item ofinterest and attractiveness to children of tender ages.

PATENTED SEP H97! T360? 023 Tilj. l.

nvv; m. Wnomy J G A TIER/V676 TOY BALL This invention relates to a toyball and in particular to a toy ball that is an attractiveattention-getting object to children of all ages as it is rolled along asurface or otherwise rotated.

It has been known in the prior art to use transparent toy balls withobjects inside of them to provide toys that .produce different visualeffects as they are manipulated by children of tender ages. However,with many of these prior art toy balls the ball was so constructed thatonly a limited number of perspectives were obtainable as the ball wasrolled along a surface or otherwise rotated. This detracted from theenjoyment that was obtainable by young children in using these toyssince continued manipulation of the ball did not result in it beingpossible to view different perspectives. Additionally, many of theseprior art toy balls were of complex construction, some includingelectrical circuitry in their interior, and thus were expensive to make.This made the toy balls inaccessible to children on whom modest meansfor amusement devices could be spent and thus detracted from theirgeneral usefulness.

With the market for toys expanding as it is, it is apparent that if atoy ball could be devised to overcome the aforementioned drawbacksassociated with prior art toy balls of the type herein described itwould find widespread use.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved toy ball of the type heretofore described.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved toyball which will continually provide different perspectives as it isrolled along a surface or otherwise rotated and manipulated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy ball of thetype described that can be economically made so as to be able to be soldat an inexpensive price.

Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, the foregoing andother objects are achieved by a toy ball having a spherical memberhaving pockets spaced along its surface. Cups are press-fitted into thepockets and objects of attraction, such as a figurene of an animal,beads, etc. are located inside each cup. Two hemispheres are joinedabout the spherical member and serve as a casing to keep the objects ineach cup from falling out of the cup as the spherical member with itscasing is rolled along a surface, thrown up in the air or'otherwiserotated. Such rotation provides a plurality of different perspectives asa result of the object within .each cup moving in its respective cupsince the portion of the casing which covers each cup is transparent toenable one to look at the object within the cup.

Other objects, aspects and features of the present invention will beapparent from the following specification and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a toy ball in accordance with the present inventionrolling down an incline;

FIG. 2 is a partially open view of a portion of the toy ball of thepresent invention illustrating one of the objects which is movablewithin the toy ball as it is rotated or otherwise moved;

FIG. 3 is a view along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2 showing in cross section theinner spherical member, the press-fitted cup member, the object ofinterest, and the outer casing of a portion of the toy ball of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a toy ball of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 4 in particular it can be seenthat the toy ball of the present invention includes an inner sphericalmember 11 having a plurality of pockets 12 located on its surface.Member 11 may be made of polyfoarn or some other suitable lightweightmaterial. In addition to pockets 12 at least one pair of windows 13 arelocated on the surface of spherical member 11 in diametrically opposedpositions for a reason soon to be apparent. It is of course to beappreciated that only one window can be seen in spherical member 11 at atime due to the symmetry of the member. A

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plurality of cylindrically shaped cups 14 made of polyfoam arepress-fitted into pockets 12 as seen in FIGS. 2 and3. The cups areidentical to each other and include a base portion and sidewallsextending therefrom which define a cup opening at the surface of member11 when the cup is press-fitted into the spherical member as seen inFIG. 3.

An object of interest such as a figurene, beads, a little toy, a puzzle,etc. is placed within each cup and two plastic hemispheres 15 and 16 areplaced over spherical member 11 and cups in the pockets in a closefitting relation, such as seen in FIG. 3, to form a casing whichprevents the object in each cup from falling from the cup as the toy isrotated. Hemispherical members 15 and 16 have transparent sections whichare placed over the cups to enable the objects in' each cup to be seen.Sections 15 and 16 also include window sections for covering the windowsin spherical member 1 1 to enable a person to look through one of thediametrically opposed windows to see through the other of thediametrically opposed windows so that there is a see-through capabilityin the toy ball. Hemispheres l5 and 16 may be joined together by gluingor any other technique which is available to the skilled mechanic.

In order to increase the attractiveness of the toy ball the portions ofthe hemisphere which do not cover a cup or window in spherical-member 11may be colored with colors that are attractive to the children such asbright red, orange, etc.

When it is'desired to use the toy ball of the present invention, it isrotated as by rolling along an incline (FIG. 1) or by being thrown inthe air, etc. As the ball rotates the difierent objects contained in thecups move within the cups providing continually different perspectives.If-desired, the colors of the objects in each cup can be selected tomate with the color of the cup and to provide an attractive contrast asthe ball is rotated. Similarly, the different cups can have differentcolor characteristics to further add to the attractiveness of the ball.

It can be appreciated from the foregoing specification that by having aplurality of different compartments with an object in each compartment,it is possible to continually obtain different perspectives, somethingthat was not possible with prior art toy balls.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy ball comprising:

a. a member having a surface with a circular cross section and aplurality of pockets extending from the surface toward the interiorthereof,

b. an object of attraction located in at least some of said pockets andof a smaller size than said pockets so as to be freely movable thereinwhen said member is rotated,

c. first means for keeping the objects from moving toward the interiorof the member as said member is rotated, and

(I. second means for keeping the objects in said pockets from fallingout of said pockets as said member is rotated.

2. A toy ball according to claim 1 wherein said first means for keepingthe objects in said pockets from moving toward the interior of themember as said member is rotated includes a retaining member in each ofsaid pockets, said retaining members preventing movement by said objectsin said pockets to the interior of said member.

3. A toy ball according to claim 2 wherein each of said retainingmembers is press-fitted into its respective pocket.

4. A toy ball according to claim 1 wherein said second means for keepingthe objects in said pockets from falling out of said pockets as saidmember is rotated includes a casing surrounding said member.

5. A toy ball according to claim 4 wherein said casing includestransparent portions which are in alignment with those pockets in whichthere are objects.

6. A toy ball in accordance with claim 4 wherein said member isspherical in configuration, a pair of windows being located ondiametrically opposed surfaces of said spherical member with there beinga see-through capability between said diametrically opposed windows,said portion ofsaid casing covering said windows being transparent toenable one to look through the toy ball.

retaining members preventing movement of said objects in said pockets tothe interior of said spherical member.

8. A toy ball according to claim 7 wherein each of said retainingmembers is press-fitted into its respective pocket.

1. A toy ball comprising: a. a member having a surface with a circularcross section and a plurality of pockets extending from the surfacetoward the interior thereof, b. an object of attraction located in atleast some of said pockets and of a smaller size than said pockets so asto be freely movable therein when said member is rotated, c. first meansfor keeping the objects from moving toward the interior of the member assaid member is rotated, and d. second means for keeping the objects insaid pockets from falling out of said pockets as said member is rotated.2. A toy ball according to claim 1 wherein said first means for keepingthe objects in said pockets from moving toward the interior of themember as said member is rotated includes a retaining member in each ofsaid pockets, said retaining members preventing movement by said objectsin said pockets to the interior of said member.
 3. A toy ball accordingto claim 2 wherein each of said retaining members is press-fitted intoits respective pocket.
 4. A toy ball according to claim 1 wherein saidsecond means for keeping the objects in said pockets from falling out ofsaid pockets as said member is rotated includes a casing surroundingsaid member.
 5. A toy ball according to claim 4 wherein said casingincludes transparent portions which are in alignment with those pocketsin which there are objects.
 6. A toy ball in accordance with claim 4wherein said member is spherical in configuration, a pair of windowsbeing located on diametrically opposed surfaces of said spherical memberwith there being a see-through capability between said diametricallyopposed windows, said portion of said casing covering said windows beingtransparent to enable one to look through the toy ball.
 7. A toy ballaccording to claim 6 wherein said first means for keeping the objects insaid pockets from moving toward the interior of the spherical member assaid member is rotated includes a retaining member in each of saidpockets, said retaining members preventing movement of said objects insaid pockets to the interior of said spherical member.
 8. A toy ballaccording to claim 7 wherein each of said retaining members ispress-fitted into its respective pocket.